Rats typically own the place. You’ll find quick enough that pet rats have no qualm being in charge of your home if you let them free roam – just make sure you ratproof your place first.

And as they go about their daily duty to check up on their territory, they get to know your place inside and out. This includes – and I guess we all, including the ratties, agree on this – the best place to sleep: The bed!

When I see ratties running about on the bed, I want to be a rat!

Just imagine this giant duvet that when you jump about it just lets you sink in like a fluffy cloud.

However, there is a downside to it: Rats gnaw.

They can’t help themselves, they have ever growing teeth and need to grind them down regularly.

And if your sheet gets in the way it simply gets shredded:

That’s why when I’m #RattieSitting I put on the rattie duvet – the sheets that have already been perforated by my pet rats. 😉

So make sure you put on some old sheets when you want your ratties to have access to your bed. You might also be lucky and your rats don’t shred.

Either way you’re going to be in for a treat: Ratties snuggling up to you under the duvet is just too adorable to miss!

And everyone and everyrat have their individual preferences. It’s fun to see the different layouts, the enterior design and what materials have been used. Often I learn something new and get inspired to improve my rattie cage.

Every rattie loves to snuggle up in a tissue box, it’s like the perfect rat size!

I first thought this would be too small, but every rattie loves it:

Not the rectangular, but the cubical tissue boxes work super nice as rattie houses.

The opening is just big enough for a rattie to squeeze through and the box indeed is big enough to hold an entire rat. It’s a tight fit, but for the ratties this seems to be cosy. The opening is just at the right height for a pet rat to rest their head. Seriously, as if made for rattie comfort!

Super practical: For quick and easy rattie treats simply freeze a veggie mix and defrost on the day of feeding.

As a RatSitter I get a lot of inspiration from other rattie moms. This idea comes from Chantal Adler. 🙂

Here’s a great #RattieTip if you like to feed your pet rats healthy fresh food, but don’t always have the time to prepare it every day:

Recipe: Frozen #Rattie #Treats!

Ingredients:

Mix of veggies: for example peas, sweetcorn

Cooked rice

Directions:

Simply mix together your rat’s favourite veggies with rice. It’s important that it stays granular, so small portions can be easily broken off to defrost for the rattie meal.

Peas and corn can be added raw to the mix, but rats seem to prefer broccoli, cauliflower and other cabbage cooked. Other root, stem and squash vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, should also be cooked. Make sure the mix doesn’t get mushy – that just ends in a mess when it defrosts.

Bonus Tip:

On hot days you can serve the veggie mix still frozen to your ratties. They will appreciate cooling down by snacking on some ice pops. 🙂

Winters can be a rough time for ratties: Rats don’t cope well with cold drafts, as they’re prone to respiratory diseases.

Make sure you also wrap up your ratties warmly when it gets nippy: Give them extra bedding and cloths, and cover the cage in a long blanket that reaches to the bottom.

As I’m #RattieSitting, I have several pet rats and cages to look after. Covering them all in blankets turns them into a Rattie Blanket Fort, similar to the one in the comedy series ‘Community’:

😉

There’s a comfy atmosphere the ratties enjoy as they’re protected from any spying eyes. Having three different clans close to each other, this is the opportunity to interact through the cage bars and settle those feuds. And anyway, who could quarrel in this super cosy warm and snug setup.

Besides of course if there’s puppy play involved:

🙂

Which can greatly disturb the all important Rattie Blanket Fort improvement works: